Well, a horsie. Tonight’s pet rescue heartwarmer, from commentor Nicole:
This is Cosmo (he’s the one on his back). I had no intention of acquiring him, or any other horse. Horse ownership is for people with money, land, or both. I live in New York, haven’t owned a car in 20 years, and am decidedly middle-class. So, of course, when I turned 30, I decided what I wanted, more than anything else, was to learn to ride a horse. At the time, there was still a riding stable in Manhattan, and I spent every extra dollar I could earn on lessons. Then the stable closed and I bid a tearful farewell to the horses who had bitten me, stepped on me, thrown me, and otherwise made me google-eyed with adoration for the equine. That includes the one who broke my knuckle. But it never occurred to me to own one.
__
A year later, I met Cosmo at a trail-riding stable in Queens. There’s no rhyme or reason to why you like one horse and not another (or why one horse likes you and another doesn’t), but I can point to two moments with Cosmo. On my 36th birthday, I took Cosmo out alone for a ride. I was depressed about this birthday, my career, my life, and I moped through the first half of the ride. And Cosmo, who hates not being in the company of another horse, moped along with me. The second half of the ride, he turned into a thousand-pound cannonball, determined to get home to his friends, ideally at a full gallop. So we fought the rest of the ride- I wanted to walk; he wanted to run. And not once did I mope about where my life was going, because I was terrified I was going to die. When we finally got back, both of us covered in sweat, everything I’d been depressed about seemed idiotically trivial and I had a lovely rest of my birthday. And made a pledge to never, ever, make Cosmo go out alone again.
__
The second moment was on the sad day I showed up for a ride to find out this stable, too, was closing. My husband, who is not a rider, but will try his best because he knows I love it (if he were a horse, you’d call him “willing”), went along on a last ride, me on Cosmo, him on another horse. When we stopped for a break Cosmo sidled over and laid his head on my husband’s knee. My husband looked down, delighted at the spontaneous affection, and Cosmo then wiped his mouth on my husband’s jeans, leaving a trail of spit from thigh to ankle. You’ll never convince me horses don’t have a sense of humor.
__
I told the stable to call me if they couldn’t find a place for Cosmo. They quoted me a sale price but told me that several people were interested in him. I was happy other people wanted to take him and that I didn’t have to worry about where he was going. Three weeks later they called and said the other people had fallen through and quoted me a price one-third of the first one. I said I’d think about it, hung up the phone, said, “I can’t do this,” and realized I had photos of Cosmo and me all over the apartment. Love is a powerful, and financially challenging, emotion.
__
And so, after endless phone calls, health certificates and finding out the horse is considerably older than claimed (there’s a saying, by the time a horse dealer says, “Good morning,” he’s already told you two lies), Cosmo, along with another of the horses, who now belongs to my riding buddy, were on a trailer, driven by a guy from Germany who spoke little English, to my uncle’s, who is kindly boarding them at cost for as long as his health will allow it. And I’m worried I’m in over my head, and that, with a baby on the way, I can’t afford this. But last weekend I went to visit and we took Cosmo and his friend out into a paddock and turned them loose- the first time in years they haven’t been standing in a stall or being ridden. The two old geldings ran and jumped and made snow angels. At one point, Cosmo walked over to me, put his nose in my hands and we stood quietly for a few moments. And I bawled like a little kid, grateful for this animal I never intended to own. And then my horse trotted off to roll in the snow again.
May you, Cosmo, and the rest of your growing family enjoy many happy years together, Nicole.
Mike Kay
Beautify America – Punch a Hippie!
Annie
Pure love. What an awesome story. What a beautiful animal to bring into the family, and what a friend for your new baby. “Love is a powerful, and financially challenging, emotion.” And, that is why it is so special.
freelancer
I chopped and grilled onions for the sausages I made for dinner, so my tear ducts were already full throttle, but this is such a touching story. And I don’t even like horses.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
I remember you saying a while back you were about to be a horse owner. I thought maybe you could be drunk or something, but nope, there is Cosmo. happy for you. love horses and grew up riding them. Still have a scar where a Palomino took a chunk out of my butt cause I was riding a little Shetland and he didn’t approve. Congrats!! they are great friends and companions. And fabulous story.
russell
You only live once. As far as any of us know, anyway.
Buy the horse.
demo woman
What a wonderful picture and story.
Capri
Awww. I take care of horses for a living, and stories like yours are what keeps me going.
Your description of your first trip alone reminded me of a joke:
Why did the Nez Perce ride Appaloosas into battle?
So they’d be angry when they got there.
Max
This story made me tear up. I had a horse when I was a young girl and she was killed by an 18-wheeler.
I’m totally up for hay/oats contributions.
Pavlov's Dog
What a beautiful story, and making an old man cry…
Mary
What a fantastic picture and story. Yet another reason that this blog rocks.
jeff
Your post improved my life expectancy: thank you!
Zuzu's Petals
Purty horsie!
freelancer
@Zuzu’s Petals:
Okay, you’re officially this thread’s “Lenny”. Don’t get so carried away we need to take you outside and tell you about the wabbits.
Brian J
I don’t know if anyone brought up this story about military trained dogs in Afghanistan from The Wall Street Journal last week, but you haven’t read it, you should. It’s more moving than anything else, because you realize that they suffer from basically the same problems that humans can suffer from when they are in a war zone, although I will say that I didn’t realize that they are given a rank and everything else. That part, at least, was cute. From what a friend told me, this happens in the NYPD, too, where at least some of the dogs have uniforms and badges and everything.
It’s pretty amazing to think of the ways domesticated animals work. I mentioned the article I linked to above to some people who responded by telling me about an old dog they used to have. This dog would anticipate medical problems with their daughter, who suffered from bad asthma attacks. No joke, the dog would not leave her side right before she would start to have trouble breathing, so the parents started to pick up on when their daughter would be in trouble.
Mike Kay
It’s 10 PM, do you know Ben Roethlisberger is?
HRA
It’s a wonderful true story. Thank you for sharing it.
Max
Seems there was an interesting blogger meeting at Treasury today and Aravosis surprisingly has a lot of positive things to say about Geitner. His commenters are tearing him apart.
http://www.americablog.com/2010/03/joe-and-i-just-met-with-treasury.html
litbrit
I am so happy for you–and more than a little envious!. This former (and perhaps future) equestrienne wishes you and Cosmo many years of joy and thanks you for the lovely story that I’ll carry with me as I drift off to sleep.
CaseyL
I adore horses. I love their beauty, their scent, their temperment, how they move, their dark kind eyes, how it feels to kiss their muzzle and touch them, how they go crazy and make faces of ecstasy when you scritch them hard where neck meets withers… I don’t even have to ride them. I’ve spent afternoons just hanging out in a paddock, leaning against a horse; and playing Tag when we felt like running around.
One of the happiest days in my life was when I became co-owner of a Fresian-mustang gelding, the sweetest and handsomest boy you ever saw. But I hardly ever got to ride him (the co-owner seemed to always have dibs) and basically was paying over $300 a month for the privilege of saying “I have a horse.” One of the saddest days was 3 years later, when I realized I couldn’t do it anymore, financially or emotionally, and signed my half-share over to the co-owner.
I envy you. I wish you the very best of luck. You’ve done a wonderful, wonderful thing, giving two horses a home when they were in dire need. Bless you.
jeffreyw
A great story. Live long and prosper.
Mike Kay
@Max: Aravosis always struck me as someone with daddy issues (“Love me, daddy-love me!”). So he always acts up when he doesn’t get enough attention from “daddy”.
Jenn
Ok, crying in the middle of Starbucks. Fortunately, it’s a quiet night tonight! Thanks for the awesome post.
Brian J
@Max:
Why is McArdle on that list?
WereBear
Yes, it’s an amazing moment when we make connections.
And then commitments.
And it doesn’t even have to be our species.
freelancer
@Max:
Not to parse this too much, but does this above graph from that post make Aravosis sound like some babe in the woods who’s never been to D. C. before? It’s just goofy, sycophantic, awful writing.
ruemara
May you, your family & your uncle always be blessed with both Cosmo’s presence and enough to keep him. It’s truly a wonderful story.
Max
@Mike Kay: The problem I see for him, and the other ODS bloggers is that they have riled up their posse of commenters for over a year and created Frankenstein’s monster.
It’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle.
Amy
It looks like Obama is having an impact on public opinion. Only half of the public opposes health care http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/healthplan.php
It is not wildly unpopular and, in fact, support is rising.
mr. whipple
What a great story!
mr. whipple
@Brian J: That’s what I was wondering.
Jim Once
I’m terrified of horses – one of my best friends (an avid equestrienne and owner of at least ten horses) was almost killed by one and remains partially paralyzed. All that said – what a lovely, lovely story. I, too, was in tears after reading it. (As would be my friend, I’m sure.)
Mike Kay
@Amy:
of course. the only reason people opposed it was because of baseless charges by the goopers and the propaganda machine (Fixed news et. al.). Now that voters see the Big Brother isn’t setting up death panels, they feel relieved and give Obama the benefit of the doubt.
That said: Fuck all the PUMAs and the Firebaggers and Kreepy Kuchinich with a red hot poker.
Mike Kay
@Amy:
of course. the only reason people opposed it was because of baseless charges by the goopers and the propaganda machine (Fixed news et. al.). Now that voters see the Big Brother isn’t setting up death panels, they feel relieved and give Obama the benefit of the doubt.
MikeJ
@Max: They should remember that a stitch in time will save you from going the whole nine yards.
MikeJ
@Mike Kay: What annoys me most about firebaggers et al is that they don’t seem to understand that dissent from the left isn’t ignored, it’s misattributed. If all the republicans and hate something from the right and 20% of the dems hate it from the left, the headline is “70% hate XYZ.”
russell
Who gives a flying f*** about the room?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Max: I was surprised to see Atrios so mild in his reaction, but he didn’t really say anything substantive. Yglesias was there, and I assume will write something up tomorrow. Li’l Ezra apparently skipped it to be on Colbert. So I guess I’ll have to read Avarosis. sigh.
Brian J
@mr. whipple:
She does have a finance background with her MBA, sure, and while she isn’t a certifiable nutcase like Coulter, I don’t know if she can be really considered in the same category as David Brooks.
mr. whipple
“I was surprised to see Atrios so mild in his reaction, but he didn’t really say anything substantive. ”
Except that he wanted them to tell him how big and pretty the pony could be if things were in an alternative universe where all ponies can be as beautiful and large as one desires. But they didn’t do that. So, as usual, he’s unhappy.
Mnemosyne
I live and work near Griffith Park here in LA, which means that it’s not at all unusual to exit the freeway and have to stop to let a horse and its rider cross the street. The entire area near the Equestrian Center is zoned for horses, so people have stalls and stables right in their backyards. It’s pretty surreal sometimes, especially when I have to fight the urge to lean out my window and yell, “Hey, didn’t you see the sign? No horses allowed in Bette Davis Park!”
The psychiatric boarding school that my nephew just started at in Montana apparently does quite a bit of equine therapy and even has their own show-quality ring. I’m not sure that he’s seen a horse anywhere but when the Chicago mounted police are patrolling a festival, so it’s going to be interesting.
mr. whipple
@russell:
When you can’t say anything about what happened, what else can you write about?
Emma
Freelancer: No, it just sounds like he’s impressed with the room. I tend to drool over architectural details myself and I agree with him that Washington official buildings having a tendency to look rather dilapidated.
If he were gushing about Geitner, then it would be different.
Bad Horse's Filly
Nicole (and Anne Laurie) thanks so much for sharing that story. I’ve been waiting to hear how it all turned out and it sounds just wonderful. Also, congratulations on the baby. SamKitten needs some company.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@mr. whipple: Heh. As good a rewrite of that rather baroque post as we’re likely to see.
I skimmed through Avarosis, looking for substance but just came away with the fact that JA was impressed. Don’t know what this means:
PS On a personal note, Orszag has nothing on this guy.
I’ve lost my purists’ scorecard and can’t remember if Orzag is the noble savior of all things good and true being held in impotent limbo by that fiendish mustache twirler Obama and his grotesque henchman Rahm, or if Orzag is the soulless éminence grise, lurking in the shadows, feeding on the souls of kittens and entangling the callow and hapless young man (actual quote from a ‘bagger blog) in his web of deception and sell-outism.
BarbF
What a lovely story! Bless Nicole, and I hope she and Cosmo have many happy years together. She’s quite right about horse dealers, too!
The hardest ‘no’ I ever said was at 21 when my (horse dealer) boyfriend offered me my own horse if I’d move in with him.
sigh
Max
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I think that is related to looks and hotness. But, I’m guessing.
mr. whipple
Um, he kinda did, which is why his commentors, who have been conditioned to hate Timmah since day 1, turned on him.
“And the reaction from the folks at Treasury, including Geithner himself, to the tough blogger questions was simply fabulous. Geithner handled himself extremely well. Shockingly so, really. He walked in, didn’t have any opening remarks, and just opened the floor up to questions for a good hour. We all got our say. Repeatedly. It was great. Geithner handled himself so well, and was so impressive, intellectually and personally, that it’s all the more harder to understand why we’re not permitted to talk with you about the substance. Geithner doesn’t exactly have a stellar reputation among a lot of Democrats. If they were to see him as we saw him today, that view might begin to change.”
mr. whipple
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I think it’s the latter of your two possibilities.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Brian J: Think they all texted each other where they were going for drinks after and told Megan they were, like, freakin’ exhausted so everybody was just gonna go home and crash?
mai naem
I am watching Countdown and they have Ken Starr’s video right next to Bill Kristol’s pic. Amazing how similar they look. Starr looks like the overweight version of Kristol.
As far as treasury, there is basically nothing that the Obama admin is going to do that’s going to convince me that they aren’t owned solely by the banksters. I would have liked one of the bloggers ask Geithner about Damon Munchus and what
payoff/bribesjobs Geithner has lined up after he’s done with the admin.Mike Kay
@mr. whipple:
That is Geithner biggest problem, he doesn’t do well on tee vee.
In the first weeks of the administration he did a BIG televised speech and it bombed, not in substance but in delivery. He did an interview with Charlie Rose, and it put people to sleep.
If Avarosis account is true, then it reminds me of the LBJ conundrum. LBJ had famous personal charisma but was a complete stiff on tee vee.
Mike E
Dig a pony.
Mike Kay
@mai naem: considering he’s a life long public servant, maybe they should have asked him “are you now or have you ever been a commie?”
I swear, the left has it’s on McCarthyist tendencies.
CaseyL
BTW- Nicole, do you know the basics of horse care, or know someone who does and can guide you? Horses are amazingly high-maintenance and their health can be very fragile.
Here are a few:
1. They should be reshod every 6-8 weeks, unless they’re not being ridden/walking on pavement, in which case their shoes can be removed.
2. They should have their teeth “floated” (i.e., ground down), and males (including geldings) should have their penile sheaths cleaned, by a vet every couple months.
3. Beware of colic. Colic kills horses. Stress and fright can make a horse colic, not just bad food or too much food. Be very vigilant for early warning signs (restlessness, obvious discomfort, inability to lie down, inability to take a dump; and, if you put your ear to the horse’s belly, an absence of stomach sounds). There are some first aid remedies – tranquilizers and constant walking for a few hours, mostly – but the minute you think the horse is colicking you must call a vet.
4. You can buy antibiotics and vaccines for horses at horse supply stores. You might also be able to get deals on feed if you become a regular at a feed/supply store.
5. Don’t feed horses grain if they’re not being worked and ridden. Grain is a “hot” food that makes them energetic; they’ll need to work it off.
6. Put blankets on them in cold weather, esp. if they don’t have a stable or barn to come into. Be sure to clean their hooves of snow, even if you’re not riding.
If you already know all this, please don’t take offense at my mentioning it.
mr. whipple
@Mike Kay:
He’s gotten better. His first appearance wasn’t good, because it was meant to chill people, and when he didn’t have specific policy just a few weeks into the job, people got skittish. Plus, up to that point the face of the admin had always been Obama, who is impossible to follow up in terms of charisma.
What I find interesting is that for years some of these bloggers have had fits over McCain’s tire swing and how access corrupts. But it turns out some of these people’s little egos need stroked as much as anyone elses.
farmette
A story from the heart and so well written. Nothing better or more true than following the path an animal bids you to take. It is always a life changer and then some. All the best to you and Cosmos.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I was debating as to whether to post this, but this is a comment from the pic of a blogger meeting that Avarosis posted last month: JA, Atrios, Chris Hayes, Yglesias, Oliver Willis, Thom Harmann and a few others:
There’s more brains, competence and integrity in this blogger group than there is on the actual entire white house staff.
The hero worship in the blogosphere creeps me out sometimes.
Mike Kay
@mr. whipple: You ever noticed when some rank and file poster gets promoted to a “front pager” how elitist they become. And not just on GOS, but on the other blogs, as well. bunch of phoney peace loving hippies.
mr. whipple
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Whoa. Who wrote the italicized sentence?
Mike Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Avarosis is the last person to talk about integrity, with all intentionally false and purposefully inflammatory posts he has published.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@mr. whipple: @Mike Kay:
No no no, I don’t want to impugn Avarosis. That was a comment at flicker where JA posted the pic. Just some internet nym. I was just referring to the tendency of some blog readers to get a little moony eyed about their favorite blogger or pol.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
My comment with the link is in moderation for some reason, but that was not Avarosis, just a comment on the pic he posted.
mai naem
@Mike Kay: Judging from what he’s done so far which is fight Elizabeth Warren and Paul Volcker tooth and nail on everything, I think he is a corporatist tool. It doesn’t help that he doesn’t want the AIG emails during the bailout to become public. And while he may be a lifelong public servant, it doesn’t mean he’s not willing to wait for the final payoff in his fifties. BTW, from what I remember from his tax scandal he’s not exactly a poor public servant.
Svensker
Screw Aravosis, the racist twit. But I like the horsie story a lot. And I love it when horsies roll around in ecstasy — such BIG sillies.
Steeplejack
Hello, Betty . . .
Sexy-High-Heels.com ad to the left. Arrgglle! Must say this is an improvement over Pam “I Still Say It’s Not an Arm” Anderson.
gbear
Nicole, that is a great story. Nice ending with them playing in the snow.
My sisters and my dad were into horses and for a while. We owned a couple of them and boarded them a few miles from our house. I rarely rode them so I was pretty bad at it.
I took a friend of mine out for a ride once when I was about 14 and had the same experience that you had where, once the horse realized we were heading back to the barn, it took off at full gallop but I couldn’t get it to slow down. As we were barrelling up the gravel driveway the horse decided to cut a corner and came within a foot of a huge tree. Neither my friend or I hit the tree, but we leaned so far to avoid it that we both fell off the horse and landed sliding on our sides thru the gravel. We both came thru it scraped up but unbroken, and that was the last time I messed with the horses. I left them to my sisters.
gbear
@gbear: Gahhh. Punctuation and editing fail in the 3rd sentence. Time for bed.
Allen
Well, I don’ know but the first pleasure horse I was on was an Appie and it was about the best horse I ever been on. But then, I was born in Nez Perce county and my baby booties were made by the wife of the tribal chairman. Just sayin’.
TrishB
@CaseyL: That post made me laugh – in a good way. My niece works at a horse barn and takes riding lessons every weekend. I almost died laughing one night at dinner when she decided to honestly answer “How did work go at the barn today?” As far as I could tell, the day involved cleaning horse schlong and something with rubber gloves up female horse orifices. There’s now very little talk at family dinners about the niece’s day at the stables. Which may have been her point.
mattH
mr. whipple:
Hmm, a blogger asking a politician to act like one (and don’t give me some excuse that he’s not a politician, if so he shouldn’t be there), and he’s unjustifiably sad that they aren’t doing their job?
The Overton Window has gotten maligned, but the right wing has had 25 years to push the acceptable to the right. Atrios is essentially arguing that we need to do the same from the left. Maybe that’s unfair to the current administration, but they were swept in in the modern equivalent of a landslide. If not them, who?
Interrobang
Aww! Spotted! Squee! How adorable!
I know they say “inconstant colouring, inconstant temperment,” but aww, spots! Squee!
I used to have a curly-coated grade horse named Papillon. When people would ask me what breed he was, we’d say, “I think he’s a quarter horse. I’m not sure what the other three quarters are — cocker spaniel, maybe.”
Brian J
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I don’t really know much about the blogger/friend situation in D.C. except that Yglesias, Klein, and McArdle were all/still are friends with each other. Maybe she’s friendly with a lot of other people on our side. You can say a lot of things about her, but you can’t accuse her of being a nasty, bellicose bitch like you can others on the right.
mattH
I should also point out that unless they push to the left, we’ll never know how far we can actually get. As long as we start at what is “optimal given the constraints they face”, we’ll get less than “optimal”, as simple negotiating theory states.
asiangrrlMN
Aw, beautiful pony and wonderful story. Good on you, Nicole. May you enjoy your Cosmos for many many years to come.
Lesley
Cosmo knows a good person when he meets one.
Thanks for rescuing him and I hope you two have many wonderful moments together.
Jager
When my girls and ex wife were riding, I had three lovely horses; a quarter horse, Jimmy and Nicki the Tobiano paint and an ass kicker of an Arab-Quarter cross named Stormy. Bought alot of feed, paid the vet bills, saddled, scrubbed, brushed and trailered. They’d ride off and I’d crack a beer. The equine life was wonderful. I do kind of miss old Stormy, the other two not so much!
chowkster
I am grateful to you for sharing this story, Nicole. I really needed it on this cold, dreary morning.
Mum
Great story. You did good. Cosmo’s one very lucky horse, and I’m sure he knows it.
Mum
@Max:
I agree. I stopped cruising AmericaBlog some time ago because of the tone of the comments, so I’m not surprised they finally turned on Aravosis.
Nicole
Thanks for the kind comments, everyone. Made my morning.
CaseyL- your comments are always welcome. I’m very fortunate in that my uncle (the one boarding him and his buddy right now) is a retired mounted trooper (he was in charge of the stables there for many years) who grew up on a farm. (He owns a gorgeous tennessee walker himself, a breed he hates almost as much as he does appaloosas. Heh.)
Maude
@Nicole: There is film footage of Roy Rogers and Trigger going through routines. See if you and your uncle can have a look at them.
MazeDancer
Typing through tears, smiling.
Bless you, your husband and your uncle. Reading your story made me forget where life can sometimes feel like it is going – or being yanked and tumbled – and remember where it should be: connected, giving, open, aware, caring, and receiving in return. Thank you.
Phoebe
Great. I have to go wash my face.
Donna
Im so happy for you and your horse. I to have a 26 year old gelding mustang and a 18 year old mare. Bonnie and Clyde my to outlaws. Ive had Clyde for 16 years and Bonnie 14 years.
Clyde is my love and yes there is something special when you bond with a horse. I never thought I would own a horse and it was a childhood dream to have a wild mustang. My partner brought him home to me 16 years ago, I was Clydes 5th owner and most likly his last chance. He has lots of issues and all stemming from his past, how they broke him, and what did his past owners do to him? I was told years ago from an old cowboy that Clyde is who he is and I need to except him the way he is. That he could be broke again, but it could break his spirit. I didnt want that to happen. We have a great relationship and I will always take care of my horses. Clyde is my one true love of my life……
Chuck
Dixie Dew?
Nicole
@Chuck: Are you a NYC’er?
Matthew Yglesias
@Brian J:
Bad staff work, I think.